Gift wrap apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

A gift wrap apparatus that attaches to a gift package. The apparatus provides a visual representation of a three —dimensional object such as an animal, person, place, thing, cartoon character, etc. The apparatus features representative sections of the three-dimensional object so that when those sections are attached to the package, the package then becomes instantly recognizable as resembling the object. Wrapping paper can be included with the invention so that the visual image of the gift package is enhanced by having the wrapping paper correspond to the image of the three-dimensional object.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to the field of package ornamentation and, in particular, to gift wrapping aesthetics.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Presenting gifts has always been a way for people to show affection, goodwill, friendship, etc. on various social occasions and events. Consequently, it is the gift giver's goal to make his/her gift as visually appealing and highly distinctive as possible in order to enhance the anticipation as to what is contained inside the packaging. To assist the gift giver in that endeavor, stores commonly sell wrapping paper, bows, ribbons, and cards for the purpose of making the package containing the gift interesting and festive, which, of course, adds to enjoyment of the recipient as he/she proceeds to open the gift. This ornamentation comes in a myriad of colors, textures, themes, patterns, etc. Recently, decorative bags have become available as an alternative to the use of wrapping paper to cover the package containing the gift. The use of a decorative bag is particularly helpful when giving an irregular-shaped object that may not be sold in a box.

[0003] Other methods of decorating the gift include the placement of plastic or paper confetti sprinkled on top of the present. Symbols used in the confetti may include cakes for birthdays, bells for weddings, or storks for baby showers. Further, it is very common to further improve the visual appearance of the gift by attaching a decorative bow to the gift package.

[0004] Since wrapping paper is two-dimensional, making the ornamentation three-dimensional through the use of ribbons or bows serves to enhance the visual appearance of the package as well as add size to further arouse the curiosity of the recipient. Other attempts to augment the three dimensional aspect of the gift wrapping as well as improve its appearance are well known in the art.

[0005] For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,727, issued to Anderson on Nov. 30,1993, discloses a “gift wrap caricature” using shrink-wrap as a substitute for wrapping paper. A piece of shrink-wrap film encloses a gift item. Excess shrink-wrap film extending from the piece of film enclosing the gift is formed into body parts of humans, animals and plants. This way, the package creates a caricature of the human, animal or plant. Because shrink-wrap must be used in place of wrapping paper under this decorating scheme, one must heat shrink the wrap and rely on one's own ability to form the caricatures. This requires additional materials, talent, and time.

[0006] Another concept for providing a three-dimensional gift package ornament is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,853 issued to Odien on Mar. 26, 1991. Odien teaches the use of a single sheet of plastic that is formed in the shape of a character such as Santa Claus as an ornament. The ornament includes a flat back portion attached to a package or gift. With this ornament, creativity is limited by simply attaching a single molded okastuc irbanebt ibti a gift. Therefore, what is needed is pre-cut, self-adhesive decorating patterns that use several parts to give the user flexibility to configure the present in different ways.

[0007] A method and apparatus that enables a gift giver to creatively decorate a package as a three dimensional animate object such as a frog, dog, clown, cat, etc. is not found in the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The invention is a gift wrap apparatus for decorating a package for a recipient plurality of pre-cut, substantilally flat parts is provided. Each part has an indicia that substantially covers one side and an attachment area that occupies a portion of the other side. At least one adhesive strip is attached to the attachment area on each of said parts. A covering that covers each adhesive strip is also provided. The covering on the adhesive strip prevents the adhesive from adhering to a surface until said covering is removed. The indicia of each part forms a representative sectionof a visually recognizable object. When each part is adhered to the package by removign said corresponding covering and placing each part on the package in a pattern, the placement of said representative sections make a decorative impression upon the recipient so that said package is visually recognizable as the three-dimensional object. The invention can also include wrapping paper for covering the package, wherein said wrapping paper features indicia that corresponds the visually recognizable object provided when said parts are attached to the package.

[0009] Therefore, it is an aspect of this invention to previde a gift wrap apparatus that can be easily assembled on a gift package in order to create a interesting and decorative three dimensional visual image without the need for additional materials or tools.

[0010] It is another aspect of the invention to provide a gift wrap apparatus that can be fabricated in a wide bariety of pre-cut designs that can applied to a wide bariety of package chapes and sizes.

[0011] It is yet another aspect of the invention to provide a gift wrap apparatus that can be applied to package by adhesive tape that is attached to the appparatus.

[0012] It is still another aspect of the invention to provide a gift wrap apparatus that can be fabricated from plastic sheet material so that it may be re-used or can be made from cardstock, heavy paper, or cardboard for a single use application.

[0013] It is a further aspect of the invention to provide a gift wrap apparatus that can decorate a gift package without the need for conventional wrapping paper.

[0014] Another aspect of the invention is to provide a gift wrap apparatus that can be used with conventional wrapping paper.

[0015] Still another aspect of the invention is to provide a gift wrap apparatus that can be sold together with coordinating wrapping paper that will enhance the visual impact of the gift. For example, if the gift wrap apparatus utilized a frog appearance, the wrapping paper would preferably have a green ornamentation so as to enhance the image of the gift package as being frog-like.

[0016] Still another aspect of the invention is to provide a gift wrap apparatus that can be used to carry a gift tag to identify the recipient and the gift giver.

[0017] Yet another aspect of the invention is to provide a gift wrap apparatus that can be used to customize a gift package in the shape of a character, place, person, animal, etc. to the recipient's preference.

[0018] It is a further aspect of the invention to provide gift package apparatus that permits the giver to be creative yet requires a minimum of materials, time, and talent.

[0019] these aspects of the invention are not meant to be exclusive and othe features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art when read in conjunction with the appended claims and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020]FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the patterns used in the present invention.

[0021]FIG. 2 is a rear view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

[0022]FIG. 3 is rear view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 with the adhesive exposed.

[0023]FIG. 4 is an isometric view of one embodiment of the present invention in use with a card and package.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024]FIG. 1 shows sample appendages and patterns used in the present invention. Although these parts are depicted as a specific animal, i.e. a frog, any animal, character, or place may be used as the patterns. This particular emvodiment is presented only as an example of the types of patterns that are included in the scope of this invention.

[0025] As seen in FIG. 1, pattern 10 includes plurality pre-cut parts 12. Each of the pre-cut parts 12 forms one section of an object, such as an arm, a leg or a head. In this particular embodiment, pre-cut parts 12 form the arms and head of a particular animal. In other embodiments pre-cut parts 12 from appendages of different animals, people, or characters, or form landmarks and landscapes of particular places. When used together in conjunction with paclage 24 (shown in FIG. 4). pre-cut parts 12 form a recognizable three-dimensional figure. One or more of pre-cut parts 12 may include printing 14 on its face. In the illustrated embodiment, printing 14 displays an animal's face. In other embodiments, printing 14 may include additional details particular to the character or place formed by pre-cut parts 12.

[0026] Pre-cut parts 12 are preferably made from a heavy paper, such as card stock or cardboard. However, other materials, such as plastics, may be used in the manufacture of pre-cut parts 12 so long as the material is light enough to adhere to package 24, but stiff enough to stay in position to form the desired three-dimensional character.

[0027] The reverse sides of pre-cut parts 12 can be seen in FIG. 2. Each pre-cut part 12 includes at least one adhesive strip 16 on its reverse side. Adhesive strip 16 may be a strip of two sided tape or any other adhesive known in the art so long as such adhesive can attach pre-cut parts to package 24. Adhesive strips 16 are covered by coverings 18 to protect the adhesive until such time as the adhesive is to be used. Coverings 18 of this type that peel away without destroying the underlying adhesive are well known in the art.

[0028] Preferably, adhesive strips 16 are located at one end of the pre-cut part 12. As shown in FIG. 2, adhesive parts are preferably located at end 20 of the pre-cut part. This corresponds to the “shoulder” of the appendage formed by the precut part. Other embodiments may include adhesive strip 16 at anothe rlocation on pre-cut part 12, depending on what shape that particular pre-cut part forms. Placement of adhesive strip 16 may also depend on the manner in which pre-cut part 12 is to be attached to package 24.

[0029]FIG. 3 demonstrates how pattern 10 is prepared for use on a package. Coverings 18 are removed to expose adhesive strips 16. Pre-cut parts 12 are then positioned on a package and attached to the package with adhesiv estrips 16. FIG. 4 demonstrates decorated package 22, which includes package 24 decorated by pattern 10.

[0030] As can be seen in FIG. 4, pre-cut parts 12 are attached to package 24 at end 20, where adhesive strip 16 is licated on the reverse side. Preferably, pre-cut parts 12 are positioned on package 24 so that printing 14 is visible. Pre-cut parts 12, especially in those emvodiments wherein appendages are formed by the pre-cut parts, may be positioned to hold card 26 to accompany package 24. Or, a slot (not shown) may be cut in a pre-cut part that corresponds to amouth in the face of a character and card 26 may be placed in such a slot. Package 24 may or may not be wrapped in conventional wrapping paper.

[0031] Pre-cut parts 12 are illustrated as two-dimentsional cut outs int eh diagrams. In an alternate emvodiment, pre-cut parts 12 may be three-dimensional. In this embodiment, the parts are preferably hollow, so as to be light enough to adhere to package 24. In any embodiment, pre-cut parts are arranged on package 24 to decorate it and form a person, place or animal. FIG. 4 dimonstrates the preferred use of pattern 10. By attaching pre-cut parts 12 that form the appendages and head of an animal. package 24 appears to form the body of that animal. No matter what shapes or characters the pluralty of pre-cut parts 12 form, the parts are adhered to package 24 to form aregognizabel three-dimentsional form of a person, place, animal, or character. Package 24 serves as an intergral part of the three-dimensional form.

[0032] Although the present invention has been described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, other versions are readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments contained herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A gift wrap apparatus for decorating a package for a recipient comprising: a plurality of pre-cut, substantially flat parts, each part having an indicia that suvstantially covering one side and an attachment area occupying a portion of the other side; at least one adhesive strip attached to the attachment area on each of said parts; a covering that covers each adhesive strip such that said adhesive strip is prevented from adhering to a surface until said covering is removed; wherein the indicia of each part forms a representative section of a visually recognizable object, and wherein each part is adhered to the package by removig said corresponding covering and placing each part on the package by removing said placement of said representative sections make a decorative impression upon the recipient so that said packaage is visually recognizable as the three-dimensional object.
 2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 futher comprising wrapping paper for covering the package, wherein said wrapping paper features indicia that corresponds to the visually recognizable object provided when said parts are attached to the package.
 3. The apparatus as claimed in claim
 1. wherein said plurality of pre-cut parts are made from a material selected from the group consisting of heavy paper, cardboard, card stock, and lightweight plastic. 